Well it took 12 weeks, but The Game Haus finally had a bad week against the spread. It was 6-9 a mark last week. The season mark now stands at a still very solid 88-82-6. Lucky Week 13 is upon us. Picks are bolded, outright upsets have an asterisk, and all spreads are from rtsports.com at the time of writing.
Thursday Night:
Saints (-7.5) at Cowboys– The Saints are destroying everyone and have been since their opening week loss, they may run the table. However, Dallas is leading the NFC East. The only way to stop the Saints offense is run the ball and bleed the clock while Drew Brees just watches. The Cowboys don’t have the firepower to win, but certainly have the pieces to execute the formula above well enough to keep this one close. NO 30 Dal 27
Sunday:
Cardinals at Packers (-14)- Aaron Rodgers has to be fuming over where the Packers are right now. Green Bay is just not anything more than an average team, but Rodgers should be good and angry the rest of the way and Arizona is an awful football team. GB 31 Ari 14
Ravens at Falcons (-1)- Lamar Jackson has done a good job to keep the Ravens afloat the last two weeks. Still, it is hard to imagine the Ravens taking a rookie quarterback who runs almost as much as he throws on the road and scoring enough points to knock off a talented offense like Atlanta. In his two starts, Jackson has 44 throws and 37 rush attempts. That style always gets snuffed out in the NFL before too long. The Falcons offense has been inconsistent and tough to figure out all year long, but they are at home and are not afraid to have their quarterback throw. Atl 27 Bal 20
Bills at Dolphins (-4.5)- The Bills have been quietly scrappy for most of the year, but they have very little to play for and are traveling to take on a solid Miami team that is still in the race. Mia 20 Buf 14
Panthers (-3.5) at Bucs- Despite dropping three in a row, Carolina is still right in the middle of the playoff race and has been in every game during that span. A Tampa Bay team that is still on pace to post one of the worst turnover margins in NFL history despite winning last week should be just what the doctor ordered. Car 31 TB 20
Bears (-5) at Giants- Even if Mitchell Trubisky is out again, the Bears offense didn’t look worse last week without him. This team’s bread is buttered on defense anyway. That unit should be able to have its way with a Giants offense that has struggled for consistency all year long. Chi 24 Nyg 13
Browns at Texans (-6)- The Browns have to be thrilled with what Baker Mayfield has done to lead Cleveland to back to back wins for the first time in seemingly forever. The Texans have won eight in row for a reason though. The other young quarterback in this game has more talent around him. Hou 28 Cle 20
Broncos (-4.5) at Bengals- Stay away from this one. The Broncos have won two in a row against Super Bowl level opponents. Going on the road to face a backup quarterback making his first career start screams trap game, even with Denver’s pass rush. Still, there is no reason to pick the Bengals here, but be careful. Denver has only won three road games in nearly two full years under Vance Joseph. Den 24 Cin 17
Colts (-4) at Jaguars- The Jaguars have lost seven in a row, just benched their starting quarterback, and will be without Leonard Fournette for this one. On the other side, Andrew Luck is playing at an MVP level and the Colts have won five in a row to put themselves in the playoff race. Bet the house on this one now. The number will go up between now and Sunday. Ind 28 Jac 17
Rams (-10) at Lions– The Rams offense is good enough for them to win on that alone most weeks, included this one. However, Los Angeles has given up at least 27 points in the last four games and Detroit has some talent. Take your chances with this many points. Lar 38 Det 31
Chiefs (-15) at Raiders– Kansas City is as good as the Raiders are bad, but Derek Carr has been much more careful with the football in recent weeks. Moreover, a 15-point home underdog in a rivalry game will never be a bad pick, even if it ends up being wrong. KC 33 Oak 21
Jets at Titans (-7.5)- Whether Sam Darnold comes back this week or not, the Jets have the least talented offense in football. They have scored 56 total points since Week 7. Despite that, apart from a seemingly random two-week spike in production against the Cowboys and Patriots, the Titans offense has not been much better. Tennessee should win a low scoring defensive battle, but those games are always closer than this number. Ten 17 Nyj 13
Vikings at Patriots (-5)- Minnesota has to be feeling pretty good about the Kirk Cousins move after last week. This is a playoff team, but we are late enough in the year that the Brady/Belichick led Patriots do not lose at home. In a year with a lot of flashy teams, the Patriots are getting lost in the shuffle a little bit. This team still does everything well, they will be in the AFC Championship game like almost every other year. NE 31 Min 24
49ers at Seahawks (-10)- Seattle’s ground game has been one of the biggest surprises in football this year. San Francisco just does not have the horses to go on the road and hang with a physical team that’s playing as well as Seattle is right now. Unfortunately for the 49ers, their season ended before it really got going due to injuries. Sea 30 SF 17
Chargers at Steelers (-3.5)- Red zone miscues cost the Steelers last week, but the offense is still rolling. They still put up over 500 total yards on the road in Denver. Not many teams can do that. The Chargers are almost equally talented on offense, but missing Melvin Gordon will really hurt in a matchup where the Chargers will need to score. More importantly, Gordon and the ground game may have been LA’s best shot at containing the Steelers offense. Pit 34 Lac 24
MNF:
*Redskins at Eagles (6.5)- It is foolish to go an entire week without picking any outright upsets. This one gets the nod because the NFC East has been shockingly average all year long and there isn’t much between any of the teams. The Redskins showed last week that they can move the ball with Colt McCoy. Also, barely beating the Giants at home changes nothing for the Eagles, they are still a mess less than a year removed from winning it all. Was 24 Phi 21
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